Bullying: NICHD Research Goals

The NICHD seeks to determine the number of people that are affected by bullying, the health effects of bullying, and how the patterns of bullying have changed over time. The NICHD’s research on bullying includes traditional bullying behavior (physical, verbal, and relational) as well as electronic aggression (“cyberbullying”).

Some of the NICHD’s projects related to bullying include but are not limited to:

Examining the co-occurrence of different types of bullying, including physical, verbal, social exclusion, spreading rumors, and cyberbullying, as well as their physical and psychological effects

Determining the health and behavioral consequences of bullying, as well as the outcomes to those being bullied

Identifying characteristics and other factors that increase a child’s risk for being bullied

Determining the prevalence of bullying and being bullied among children from different countries and comparing rates across countries

Identifying changes in bullying patterns and frequency over time and how these differ between and among different countries